Installation ?'s for a bow mount trolling motor

[Sea Lion]

Hi,

I have a 19.5ft Sea Nymph which is an aluminum, open bow/walk through windshield type of boat. I have a hunch Santa is getting me a Minn Kota 55 Edge Bow-Mount Motor. I have a few questions;

Does the bow need any kind of reinforcement?

Typically how does one wire this setup. I assume that I will need to plug the unit into some outlet in the front of the boat. Any suggestion on the electrical arrangement? I have dual batteries in the back of the boat with a perko switch.

Never installed one of these and have very limited experience with them so any hints/suggestions would be MUCH appreciated.

Looking forward to bass bugging with the fly rod in IBAY

Thanks,

[Erbyjoe]

Bob I will try to say this as easy as I can If you look up under the bow of the boat look and see if there is wood under there if there is you should be all set If you want to reinforce it go to home depot or lowes and get some aluminum for backing for under the bow so you won't dig into the wood and it also gives it suport from hammering waves.I'm asuming that this motor is a 12V system I think the 55 series is.you will need at least 10 gage or better for the wireing cabela's sell plugs that you can put up front so you can just unhook it from there.I think that cabela's also sells heavy wire just for that you also want to put a 30 amp fuse in line so you won't fry any thing if it shorst out you can put that right at the battery + termal

Here is the wire

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

here is the plugs

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... id=0000967

As far as the fuse see what it has for a rating and go from there Here is a little tip for you if your getting one make sure the shaft is at least 42 inchs or longer if not every time you hit a wave the motor will come out of the water.It's not really that hard to install.I also have mine mounted on an angle so it's not sticking into the middle of the boatIf you have any more questions ask away If I get a chance I will post some pictures of my set up and how I did it

[Guest ReelDiel]

another tip is with a 19 foot boat and a 55 12volt motor your most likely gonna want to add two more battieries. Cabelas has a dual 27series tray. wire your batteries in parallel and you be good to go. 1 batt wont cut it and will be sucked dry in no time.

i used to have the same TM. If you can you may say that it don't work and return it for a 65lb 24v PD. What a diff. Either way a front trolling motor is a great tool. good luck!!!!!

[Sea Lion]

Hi Gang,

Thanks for the great replies. I know I would get some great information from this site. My one concern is the need for two additional batteries. All I plan on doing with this is going bass bugging in the evening when I don't have the time to motor out on the big pond. I'll be bass bugging with a fly rod meaning I can't cover that much ground in the course of an hour. Are these motors that big a drain on the batteries. I recall on my friends bass boat that his were always being recharged but he would go the whole day tooling around. At the present time I got two plain jane marine batteries that I got at Sam's club.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Bob

[Guest ReelDiel]

bob if u r just going for a few hours a night you should be okay with one of your batteries just flip your switch to a or b that way if the TM drains A u still have B to start your engine. After a couple outings you will know if u need extra battery or not for what you do.

By the way i use all everstart batteries (walmart) and have great luck so far have been using them for over 10 years. (not the same batteries wiseguys)

[Erbyjoe]

Bob,

If you hook both of your batterys up in parallel + to + and - to - that will double your current but keep them at 12 volts but You might be able to get away with just one battery as long as it's charged be for you go out.Make sure you use the 6 gage wire to wire it your along way away from your battery to your motor.Good luck post pictures if your having trouble i'm sure between every one we can get you casting away

[muskybob]

I went with 2 6 volt batteries on my RV and am considering changing my 12 volt batteries on the boat.

The 2 6's on the RV work out fantastic and seem to last longer than when I had 2 12's on it.

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

[kappy]

I have the same setup open bow with a 55lb thrust minnkota

I have one 12v battery and it will last all day,, 18.5 ft boat

also on board charger which is nice just plug it in.. sealion

I would get the mounting plate and mount that,, then you can remove

the motor easily bring it in for the winter I live in greece,,

anytime if you want to stop by and take a look,, may help you out.

I have never had my battery die using it all day, I troll in the lake with

it for hours no need for planner boards either. diffenately get the right gage wire with inline fuse.

[Sea Lion]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the great advice. I got three months to plan this installation out. Appreciate all the tips/how to's and offers of help.

Happy Holidays!

Bob

[Sea Lion]

Hi Guys

Santa was kind and got me the over the bow Minn Kota 55lb thrust with 52â€Â

[emtystringer]

Bob,i have a 19' Sea Nymph with the same minkota trolling motor.I use it on the niagra river.

how i did mine was first remove the rail then remove the front dock tye.i mounted on a angle a2x6 useing the 4 holes used for tye up.i then mounted my trolling motor to the 2x6. i also use a C clamp on opposite end of motor just for stababilty when thrusting motor.i also have a foot peddle up front.

i use a battery up front with quick disconnect to battery.i put battery on charge every night.

this is a cheap way to go for i only use it in winter on the riveri hope this helps you out

[Sea Lion]

Hey Gang,

Just to keep you in the loop on how I finally installed my electric trolling motor.

It was suggested that I use 6 gauge wire. I spoke to a guy at Bass Pro and he suggested that I can get away with 8 gauge. I went to a local electrical supply house and got it at 50 cents a foot. I wasn't so caught up on 6 gauge but found that most of the male/female plugs only accept 8 gauge and smaller.

I got a male/female adapter at Bass Pro. Cost me $19.95. I looked elsewhere (locally and online) and the same thing was $39.95.

I needed a 50 amp circuit breaker. Found the ideal solution at IBOATS.com at like 10 bucks. Goes on the positive terminal of the battery and it resets itself.

Finally mounted the bracket on the bow but since my bow is somewhat flimsy (just an aluminum sheet over three plywood runnners) I installed a pressure treated deck board betweem the motor bracket and bow. I chisled out the part that goes over the gunnel so that it fits flush with the bow. This stiffened up the mount considerably. I used stainless steel nuts and bolts that I got at West Marine in Irondequoit. They have the ultimate selection of stainless hardware in the area.

So far so good. Looking forward to bass bugging on I-Bay.

Thanks for all the help/advice.

Bob

[Erbyjoe]

Bob glad to see your up and running sounds like you have every thing under controll Good luck with your new toy.

[jimski2]

When buying a bow mount trolling motor, consider the Motorguide Digital Model. It doesn't give off the interfernce you'll see on your Graph that you will see with an analog unit.